Workshops

The challenges facing municipal administration are becoming more complex, and the strain of retaining the best talent threatens to make those challenges worse. As municipalities seek to keep Canada’s communities on the cutting edge, the need for a clear strategy to bring in eager and impressive leadership is absolutely critical. Our discussion will focus on the role of municipal administration, particularly CAOs, CFOs, or their community equivalent, and how your municipal personnel leaders can make your community an attractive employer for dynamic talent.

Resilience means something different to team leaders than it used to. In 2023, we are more conscious than ever about supporting our staff, their productivity, and their long-term growth so that we can achieve local results. In order to do that, we also need to build resilience in ourselves as municipal leaders–an ever-increasing challenge in difficult times. Our discussion will cover strategies for building resilience in municipal teams and highlight best practices from your peers across Canada, as we ensure municipal government remains an attractive working culture for current and future staff.

The reduction and closure of intercommunity transit options have left a devastating gap between municipalities across Canada. At a moment when our country should be planning for growth, options to facilitate the movement of people for work, for family, or new opportunities are feeling further away than ever. In this discussion, we will examine this troubling dynamic from the perspective of rural communities, mid-size municipalities and more, and look ahead to solutions that can close these gaps and deliver local results that support a better connected nation.

Everywhere you look, Canadians are confronting the challenges and opportunities of modern life: promoting equality and diversity, grappling with the increasing cost of living, trying to build safe places for people to call home, and more. Recently, a new practice in the sustainability field called “multi-solving” has emerged - helping practitioners to find ways to inform and create linkages between the critical sustainability work Canada needs to reduce emissions and build resilience, while driving progress on our modern challenges. In this session, you will have an opportunity to hear about the latest in multi-solving approaches and have your own questions and experiences addressed, so you can find the right local balance across a variety of pressing challenges.

Canada’s National Housing Strategy, launched by the federal government in 2017, is over halfway through its 10-year lifespan. While the plan has generated some important progress, Canada’s housing landscape today features complex challenges including affordability, anti-racism, equity and inclusion, Reconciliation, infrastructure readiness and more. Municipalities represent the order of government closest to these issues, and need to be at the heart of discussion about what comes next. In this discussion, you will hear from housing experts and municipal leaders as they combine forces to craft a vision for the next generation of housing in Canada: What we keep, what we leave behind, and how municipal leadership must be central to ensuring more people have a safe place to call home.

The cost of climate change is felt first in local communities by their residents. As FCM builds out our next Adaptation program, we want to hear how municipal leaders have incorporated climate change adaptation strategies into your communities, and what your priorities are. This session includes presentations from leading Canadian municipal examples and an interactive discussion where participants can exchange adaptation-related information and ask important questions.

Join this session to hear leading examples, share your questions and challenges, leave with ideas and contacts to support your next steps, and help us build an Adaptation program that best fits municipal needs.